Fire Emblem Heroes Tier List, Launch Week, February 2017

The first collection of characters in Fire Emblem Heroes has been ranked and tagged, making it simple for users to decide on which heroes to keep, and which to send home. Here in the first week of the game's launch, some of the rankings are relatively obvious. If I roll a 5-star base unit, I'm going to want to keep it – that's the top of the charts no matter how we slice it.

Nintendo's first release of a Fire Emblem game for mobile devices has been a smash-up job from almost every angle. Users have complained only about the slight differences between the most recent 3DS game and the mobile game we're playing now. Simple things, really – stuff that's not nearly as important as an overall enjoyable experience for Android and iOS.

As such, we're starting our Fire Emblem Heroes journey with a list of best-ranked heroes available to users. The first list we have here is the crew of characters that only appear as natural 5 star units. These units are the most powerful in the game right this minute – don't send them home!

• Azura (Blue)

• Elise (Grey)

• Hector (Green)

• Hinoka (Blue)

• Leo (Red)• Linde (Blue)

• Lucina (Red)

• Lyn (Red)

• Minerva (Green)

• Ryoma (Red)• Takumi (Grey)

• Tiki: (Red)

Highlighted heroes above are stand-out top-tier heroes. Each has their own super-special skill not available with the same combination of skills on any other character. Hector and Ryoma are able to counter from any distance, while Ryoma gets extra powerful once he's below 50%. Hector also has a special skill that grants him a defensive buff.

• Hector (Green) *

• Leo (Red) *

• Linde (Blue) *

• Ryoma (Red) *

• Takumi (Grey) †

Leo can move basically anywhere and does 7 damage to the 2 tiles around any enemy he attacks. Leo's weapon skill also limits enemy attack range to 1 tile. Linde attacks with high damage at the same time as she heals ally units 1 tile around her. Linde can also has a skill which gifts her own HP to ally units.

Takumi also has the ability to counterattack regardless of the distance of the attacker, while his special skills allow him to inflict 30% to 50% extra damage. Takumi's movement inflicts -2 speed on foes inside 2 paces of the subsequent action.

The rest of the characters on the 5-star list are second tier. The oddest of these is Tiki, who comes in "Young" and "Adult." The one you'll want to keep is Tiki: Young – this character only comes in 5-star base. This hero has an area of effect damage skill and a command skill that hears nearby allies.

• Abel (Blue) *

• Azura (Blue) *

• Camilla (Green) †

• Cordelia (Blue) *

• Elise (Gray) *

• Hinoka (Blue) *

• Lucina (Red) ∆

• Tiki [Young] (Red) ∆

Azura can revive one unit during battle – this is currently the only character that allows revival. She's decent otherwise – her main worth rests in the revival. Lucina's weapon heals 10hp every 3 turns and does extra damage against dragons, while her command skill buffs allies 1 tile away.

Camilla has an attack which works two ways – both attack twice. If she is attacked, she's slowed by 5, if she is the one attacking, her speed increases up to +6. Camilla also deals up to 7 area of effect damage up to 2 tiles away.

Elise heals enemy units at the same time as she heals herself. Her special skill also adds an attack buff on every ally she heals. Hinoka's weapon allows a double-attack every time at the cost of next-turn's speed. Meanwhile Hinoka's AOE skill gives extra speed to nearby allies.

Also in Tier 2 we have the two most powerful 4-star heroes, Abel and Cordelia. Abel can stop wind-type double-attacks and has a double-attack of his own at the cost of speed. Cordelia has the same double-attack weapon skill at the cost of speed, but also has the ability to move again after battling.

In this list we've got Caeda, Lyn, Roy, Marth, and Tharja. Of these, Marth is our favorite. Marth is able to heal 10hp every 3 turns and he's able to move around the enemy. Marth is not an easy character to defeat.

• Marth (Red) ∆

• Roy (Red) †

• Lyn (Red) †

• Caeda (Red) *

• Tharja (Red) *

• Chrom (Red) *

Chrom is another one of the best in this tier. Chrome gets this high on the want-list for his ability to sap energy from his opponents equal to half of the damage he's dealt. Chrome is also able to heal 10hp every 3 turns.

Tharja is able to move quick and has a skill that depends on other heroes to get it started. When an ally's buff skill boosts Tharja, she gains the ability to deal additional damage. Caeda is an excellent teammate for Tharja as Caeda is able to buff the speed of allies as well as her own speed.

Roy gains +2 Resistance and Defense each time he is attacked, and deals more damage than usual when he has the weapon triangle advantage. Lyn has a weapon which has a skill when Lyn is at 50% health or lower – at that time, she's allows to double-attack before the enemy attacks. Lyn has a skill similar to Cordelia, allowing her to move again after battling.

Here's where we start to get to the heroes that aren't entirely rare, but still fit in the "you might want to keep these fighters around" category. Here we have Minerva, Robin, Corrin, Effie, and Peri. Of these, Effie is pretty obviously the best.

• Robin (Blue) ∆

• Cornin (Red) *

• Effie (Blue) *

• Peri (Blue) *

• Minerva (Green) *

Effie is basically a tank. Effie has big attacks due to an attack buff and has the ability to cut double-attacks in half. Corrin can stop enemies from moving entirely, just so long as he retains a high HP level.

Peri is fast and has a weapon called Killer Lance which allows her special skill to cool down quicker. Minerva has this same sort of special skill cool down reduction, while her special skill cuts down on damage from magic.

To attain these heroes, head to the Summon Orb near the middle of the bottom of the game's main menu. The multi-colored orb is the currency that'll be used in this area. Attaining 20 orbs, then heading in to roll five summons is the best way to attain many heroes – but not always the best way to get the heroes we might want.

KEY: Summon Heroes

• Deep Devotion †

• Legendary Heroes ∆

• Any Summon Group *

This is just the beginning! We expect far more heroes to be released in the future – for now we're running with a collection of some of the simplest-to-digest heroes so the masses can get in on the game. Nintendo's off to a great start!